Tag Archives: School media center

Advocacy, Communication, School Media Specialist

It Takes a Village: Tools to Help Keep the Community Informed, Engaged, and Supportive

Working Together Teamwork Puzzle Concept
I saw this blog entry referenced on the ITEM listserve, and read through it all – it was written by CMLE’s own Lisa Newhouse in Monticello! This is a great (GREAT!) example of strategies all library people can use to promote your library services to your community members! Read this excerpt below, and then click on the link to go read the rest of it at her site!!

By Lisa Newhouse,  @LisaNewhouse4

“The Media Center is an integral part of the school community. Media Specialists and Librarians are aware of this, but how do we keep the community informed of all we do? How do you engage your school and the community itself in the Media Center programs? How do you in turn get the community to stand behind the Media Center and support the many programs? Well, below I will tell you what I have done to get our community involved here. I’d love to hear how you get your community involved as well.
  • Web Site: The Media Center website has all of the information about everything that happens in the Media Center. I designed my Media Center website using Google Sites and some HTML coding. I tried to design it to be simple and functional so that parents, staff, and students could easily access what they were looking for. On the home page, I had links to my contact information, newsletter sign up, the school library catalog, the public library website, and useful websites and online sources.

Continue reading It Takes a Village: Tools to Help Keep the Community Informed, Engaged, and Supportive →

Materials, Programs, Public, Services

Q&A: Makerspaces, Media Labs and Other Forums for Content Creation in Libraries

From the ALA:

Statement of Purpose: This Q&A can be used as a guide by libraries as they create policies for makerspaces or other content creation forums within their facilities. It is not intended to be a template for such policies but rather a source for answers to questions that are likely to be asked as libraries formulate content creation policies. This document should not be construed as legal advice but may serve as insight as to when a library may need to seek legal advice.

Is a library really an appropriate space for hands on creative activities? 

Historically libraries have often included in their functions the creation, as well as the preservation and dissemination, of content in many different formats.  Libraries have supported and encouraged scholars, writers, inventors, artists and artisans, and provided study rooms, carrels, meeting, exhibit and performance spaces, as well as tools and equipment for individual and group use.

Providing 3D printers and other tools and technology in makerspaces, tech labs, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) or STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) labs, media labs, exhibit and performance venues, as well as other physical and virtual spaces for creative endeavors, is only the latest manifestation of the library’s natural role in encouraging and facilitating the creativity and ingenuity of its community of users. Continue reading Q&A: Makerspaces, Media Labs and Other Forums for Content Creation in Libraries →

School Media Specialist

April 4th is School Librarian Day!

April is School Library Month, so of course there’s a day specifically to celebrate school librarians. That day is today, April 4th!

If you are a school librarian – we appreciate you and the incredible work that you do! If you know a school librarian, share your appreciation and admiration!

AASL has a whole page devoted to School Library Month, so make sure to check that out. This year’s theme is Because School Libraries Empower Students and the hashtag is #slm17. Their page also includes complimentary webinars and graphics to use at your school library or media center.

School librarians and media specialists do so much to equip students with necessary research, technology, and literacy skills. For a few examples of the cool things that school librarians are doing, see this article from Education Week or this one from Learning.com.

Many of CMLE’s members are school libraries and we have been able to visit several of them. Discover all the excellent programs and activities taking place at these local libraries on our Library Visit page.

Thank you to school librarians and media specialists for all that you do! 🙂

 

Resources, Tech

Raspberry Pi activities

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
A listserve discussion was asking about different programs or activities people are doing in their libraries using Raspberry Pi devices. We are sharing them with you here:

  • We are using Pi mostly with a camera for Social Media campaigns.  Our IT department uses them to monitor wireless networks.
  • A few weeks ago we deployed Screenly open source. It’s been working great. We were displaying PowerPoint from a laptop and moved to this. PowerPoint can save as MP4, which we then load to the Pi.
    Continue reading Raspberry Pi activities →
CMLE, School Media Specialist, Visits

Visiting the BBE schools!

It is always so fun to visit our member libraries – and the BBE schools were no exception! On this trip I visited both the high school and the elementary school. It really had a lot of impact to talk with the people who work together to bring library services to their community, during the entire K-12 system! That kind of partnership can be so valuable in making libraries stronger, and in ensuring students have a consistent experience.

Visiting the high school first was fun! They are getting ready to do some interior work, so things were pushed around somewhat – but they are clearly still open for business, and actively used by students.

You can see how they have thought about providing comfortable seating for students – those beanbag chairs looked great! Students were sitting in them most of the time I was there. (I bravely kept moving instead of plopping down to relax there also!)

Continue reading Visiting the BBE schools! →